'steeple-house,' and
the Tower akin to an idol. Thus slowly do men learn that 'the ways
unto God are as the number of the souls of the children of men,' and
that wherever a man truly seeketh God in whatsoever fashion, so he do
but seek honestly and with his whole heart, God will consent to be
found of him.

Yet though the Friends who came to Newcastle came truly to besiege the
town for love's sake, not with love did the town receive them.
'Ruddy-faced John Audland' was the first to come, he who had been one
of the preachers that memorable Sunday at Firbank Chapel, and who,
having yielded place to George Fox, had been in his turn mightily
convinced of Truth. 'A man beloved of God, and of all good men,' was
John Audland, 'of an exceedingly sweet disposition, unspeakably loving
and tenderly affectionate, always ready to lend a helping hand to the
weak and needy, open-hearted, free and near to his friends, deep in
the understanding of the heavenly mysteries.' Yet little all this
availed him. In Newcastle as elsewhere he preached the Truth, 'full of
dread and shining brightness on his countenance.' Certain of the
townsfolk gathered themselves unto him and became Friends, but the
authorities would have none of the new doctrine, and straightway
clapped him into gaol. There he lay for a time, till at last he was
set free and went his way.

After him came George Fox, when some thirteen years had gone by since
Sir John Marley saved the Tower, and General Leslie had returned
discomfited to Edinburgh. From Edinburgh, too, George Fox had come on
his homeward way after that eventful journey to the Northern Kingdom,
when 'the infinite sparks of life sparkled about him as soon as his
horse set foot across the Border.' Weary he was of riding when he
reached the gates of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Yet 'gladded' in his heart
was he, for as he had passed by Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Governor there
had 'shewn himself loving towards Friends,' and, though only a little
Meeting had been gathered, 'the Lord's power had been over all.' As
Fox and his companion rode through the woods and beside the yellow
brown streams and over the heathery moors of Northumberland, they
found and visited many scattered Friends whose welcome had made George
Fox's heart rejoice. But no sooner had he entered the town than all
his gladness left him, at the grievous tale the faithful Friends of
Newcastle had to tell. Ever since John Audland's preaching had stirred
the sou